An overflow crowd turned out Saturday morning at the San Rafael Community Center to vent about a new local energy authority who they fear will raise their rates.

The Marin Energy Authority will compete with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. as an energy retailer in Marin with the aim of cutting the emission of greenhouse gases by boosting renewable energy use.

But a vast majority of the more than 200 who crammed into the center and out its doors saw problems with the plan.

"This is the most pernicious action I have ever seen," said an outraged Bob Adams of San Rafael, who turned out for the event, sponsored by the Common Sense Coalition, which is supported by PG&E. "You have government asserting itself into the free market system."

The clean energy initiative is a program of the Marin Energy Authority. The authority is a group consisting of the county of Marin, San Rafael, Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tiburon, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Belvedere.

Residents in those jurisdictions will be enrolled in the program automatically unless they opt out. Most residential customers will not be enrolled into the program until the second phase, which is scheduled to occur 12 to 18 months after the beginning of phase one this year.

"There is no provision for any sort of local renewables in their plan," said former San Rafael Assemblyman Joe Nation, who hosted Saturday's meeting.

Nation said the forum aimed to inform customers about perceived problems with the new authority, which has been approved by the county's Board of Supervisors.

"PG&E believes they have a responsibility to let people know that there are risks if they stay with the MEA," he said.

Stan Hulett, who served on the California Public Utilities Commission from 1986 to 1991 and was the agency's president from in 1987 and 1988, was critical of the clean energy plan as he spoke to the gathering.

"The proposal will do nothing but raise your rates," Hulett said , adding he believes the renewable energy needed to make a system truly green is decades away.

"It will expose you to very severe financial problems in the future. The MEA will no work in my opinion," he said.

Others noted PG&E is working toward securing more renewable energy and that there isn't a need to form another bureaucracy to manage energy in the county.

"You have to be an expert to handle these facilities and PG&E has that experience," said San Anselmo resident John Hanley "Every taxpayer in this room knows they are trying to pull a sham over us."

Not all were against the MEA plan. Outside of the community center, some held up signs reading: "If MEA Is Such A Risk, Why is PG&E Spending $35 Million to Stop It?"

"We are clearly such a competitive threat and they know it is going to succeed," said Megan Matson of the group Main Street Moms, based in Olema. "Why else would they spend $35 million to kill these type of movements statewide?"

PG&E has aggressively fought to kill the clean energy initiative. The investor-owned utility has spent $6.5 million to launch an initiative on the June 8 ballot that would require any local government that wants to become an electricity retailer to secure approval of two-thirds of their voters first. PG&E managers have informed company shareholders that they plan to spend a total of $25 million to $35 million backing Proposition 16.